News Season 2025 - 2026
26th February 2026
At the latest meeting of Motherwell Photographic Society, we welcomed members of Hub Singer Camera Club to our Glasgow District Photographic Union Image League battle. The judge for the competition was Tracy Ross from Irvine Camera Club. Tracy awarded all of the images (20 from each club) a score out of 20. After a very close battle the final scores were 343 for Motherwell and 345 for Hub Singer. The top two images for Motherwell were “Two Boats, Loch Rusky” by Sabu James which scored 20 points and “A Mother’s Love” by Rodger Shearer which scored 19 points.
Club President Rodger Shearer thanked the visitors from Hub Singer for coming along and congratulated them on their win. Rodger thanked Tracy for her fair, constructive feedback and for her helpful advice on how she felt the images could be improved.
19th February 2026The latest meeting was the annual Members’ Night, which gives the members the opportunity to share images that we do not normally get to see.
Rodger Shearer, Linda Greenhill, Sabu James and Barry Nelson gave presentations showcasing a wide variety of images including architecture, Scottish and European landscapes, the people and wildlife of the Masai Mara, and a selection of images taken with vintage camera lenses. Douglas McEwen gave a presentation on how to prepare images for printing. Iain Ferguson showed the members a number of prints that he had re-edited following judges’ comments in recent camera club competitions.
It was a thoroughly entertaining evening which was enjoyed by all the members present.
At the next club meeting, on Thursday 26th February, we will be visited by members of Hub Singer Camera Club for our second Glasgow District Photographic Union Image League battle of the season.
12th February 2026
A small contingent from the club visited Queens Park Camera club for one of two battles in the GDPU image League. Queens Park won the contest with a score of 327 against Motherwell's 317. The highest scoring image from Motherwell was "Two boats Loch Rusky" by Sabu James. We look forward to hosting Hub Singer in the other battle in two weeks time.
Next week is a members night when members have the opportunity to showcase any of their work that they would like to share with other members.
We are very excited about the exhibition being planned in Bellshill Culture Centre from the 20th April to the 26th May. More details to follow.
5th February 2026
Libby Smith from Carluke Camera Club judged the last print competition of the season. Libby is an award-winning photographer who has been a regular visitor to the club for many years. Libby enjoyed judging a good selection of prints. She commented on the technical aspects of printing, composition, the story represented in the prints and how she felt they could be improved at the capturing, editing and printing stages. Libby then gave each print a score out of 20.
In the beginners’ section David Yardley was awarded 20 points and first place with “Bird’s Eye View of Kotor Montenegro”. “Relaxing on a Sunny Afternoon” by David was second with 19 points and “Peek a Boo I See You” also by David was third with 18 points.
In the portrait section “The Viking and the Ferret” by Linda Greenhill was in first place scoring 20 points. “Show Time” by Ashley Hanlon and “Take my Photo” by Douglas McEwen were in joint second place with 19 points. “The Performer” by Iain Ferguson and “Edfest Fun Guy” by Brian Saberton were in joint third place with 18 points.
In the advanced landscape and general section “Panthera Pardus” by Rodger Shearer was the top print scoring 20 points. “Great White Egret” by Rodger Shearer and “Point to Point Racing” by Linda Greenhill were equal second with 19 points. “Going For It” by Dominic Smith, “Red Eyed Tree Frog Silhouette” and Witch's Owl by Linda Greenhill were in joint third place with 18 points.
29th January 2026
The guest speaker tonight was George Robertson a member of Milngavie and Bearsden Camera Club and the Scottish Photographic Circle. George is a mountain leader with Mountain Treks and an award-winning photographer. He gave a presentation on exploring Kathmandu and the Khumu Valley on a journey to Everest Base Camp. George started his presentation with images showing the colourful chaos that fills the city of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. There were images of people in the vibrant Thamel area of the city, Buddhist monks and beautiful temples. A 50 minute flight from Kathmandu to Lukla airport, regarded as the most difficult airport in the world to land a plane, takes travellers to the starting point of the trek to Everest Base Camp. George showed the club members a series of images of the villages and terrain taken while ascending over 5000 metres to Everest Base Camp. At lower levels the images contained lush vegetation. At higher altitudes there were no trees but stunning views of the rugged landscape of the Himalayas. The images were fantastic with shots taken at first light being the most spectacular.
22nd January 2026
Margaret Lothian from Mid Calder Camera Club judged the last digital image competition. Margaret gave constructive feedback on each image commenting on impact, focus, depth of field and composition. She also explained how she felt images could be improved at the editing stage.
The top image of the night scoring 20 points was “Two Boats, Loch Rusky” by Sabu James. “Eyes Ahead” and “Smooth Operator” by Linda Greenhill and “The Vennel Viewpoint” by Iain Ferguson scored 19 points. “I am Off” by Sabu James, “Holding a Pose” by Rodger Shearer, “Strathclyde Loch” by Iain Ferguson, “The Highlander” by Linda Greenhill, “Orchid” by Margaret Dewar and “Spot the Ball” by Dominic Smith scored 18 points.
3rd July
A good number of members made the journey to Newarthill today for the funeral of Thomas McGinn. (We knew him as Tom) It was a sad occasion but a lovely service and some of us spoke to the family at the graveside on behalf of the club.
8th June
We have had the very sad news this week that one of our members has died. Thomas McGinn has passed away last week. He was a member of the camera club and of the committee for a very long time and until quite recently was an active member, putting in a variety of genre of images into our competitions from birds in Strathclyde Park to surfers in San Sebastian.
He will be sadly missed.
